Treadle assembly of an exercise equipment

ABSTRACT

A treadle assembly of an exercise equipment including treadles each with a pair of connection ears for pivotally attaching the treadles to corresponding treadle planks of the exercise equipment. A soft elastic element is fitted at the front and rear sides between the treadles and the treadle planks, respectively. Accordingly, the treadles are subject to an angle change with the force acting on the treadles due to the effect of the soft elastic elements.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Fields of the Invention

The invention relates to a treadle assembly of an exercise equipment,and more particularly to a treadle assembly that undergoes a properangle change with the up and down movement of the treadle plank of theexercise equipment in adjustment to the soles of both feet of theoperator for protecting his ankle joints from injuries.

2. Description of the Related Art

The soles of the feet of the operators are subject to a certain anglechange with the up and down movement of the treadle plank of theexercise equipment when an operator takes exercise on a treadmill or anelliptical cross trainer. For example, the soles of the feet tend to beraised while they rise, and they tend to be downwardly inclined whenthey sink.

It's never seen that any means for adjusting the change of the treadingangle is fitted to the treadle of the conventional exercise equipment.Therefore, the operator has to be forced to adjust himself to the anglechange of the treadle. When the operator only uses the exerciseequipment for a short time, the aforementioned design may not pose aninjury risk to the operator. However, the ankle joints of the long-termoperator would be subjected to exercise injuries due to the mechaniccompulsory force caused by the unnatural positions for a long time. Mostof the operators who do not realized the potential hazard would getunknown injuries in the area of the ankle joints in the future. If it'strue, the manufacturers of the exercise equipment must be responsiblefor it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a treadleassembly of an exercise equipment that protects the ankle joints of thelong-term users from potential injuries, thereby achieving more safetyin operation.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a soft filling materiallike rubber with ductile, compressional and resilient elasticity isemployed for producing a proper synchronic deformation of the treadle byapplication of force to the treadle, thereby resulting in proper anglechange in adjustment of the soles of the operator's feet. Of course, thefilling material brings the treadle in original position when theexternal force is removed. In this way, the ankle joints of the operatorcan be properly protected from injuries.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accomplishment of this and other objects of the invention willbecome apparent from the following description and its accompanyingdrawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a preferred embodiment of theinvention; and

FIG. 2 is a cutaway view of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

First of all, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the treadles 10includes a pair of connection ears 12 for pivotally attaching thetreadles 10 to corresponding treadle planks 22 of the exercise equipment20. A soft elastic element 30 is fitted at the front and rear sidesbetween the treadles 10 and the treadle planks 22, respectively. Thetreadles 10 are subject to an angle change with the force acting on thetreadles 10 due to the effect of the soft elastic elements.

Based on the assembly of the above-mentioned components, as shown inFIG. 2, the treadles 10 can swivel on the pivot of the connection ears12. Thus, the treadles 10 undergoes a proper angle change with the upand down movement of the treadle plank 22 of the exercise equipment 20in adjustment to the soles of both feet of the operator for protectinghis ankle joints from injuries.

Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiment of theinvention can, of course, be carried out without departing from thescope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and theuseful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limitedonly by the scope of the appended claims.

1. A treadle assembly of an exercise equipment, comprising treadles, thetreadles each having a pair of connection ears for pivotally attachingthe treadles to corresponding treadle planks of the exercise equipment,a soft elastic element being fitted at the front and rear sides betweenthe treadles and the treadle planks, respectively, so that the treadlesis subject to an angle change with the force acting on the treadles dueto the effect of the soft elastic elements.